Stars top Avalanche in shootout

Saturday, December 06, 2008-12:56:am
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page                            

It wasn't pretty and it wasn't exciting for most of the night but in the end the Dallas Stars found a way to win, knocking off the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in a shootout at the American Airlines Center Friday night.

"They're all not going to be masterpieces right now," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "It's all about getting points."

The win was the third in the last four games for the Stars and their fourth in the last six games.

"It's very much needed with our situation. We need to fight and claw for every point we can get out there," said Stars center Mike Modano, who assisted on the team's only goal in regulation and then scored the winner in the shootout. ""We're battling, we're playing smart, we're hanging around the game long enough and we are getting some breaks."

Although the Stars are still in a hole as far as the standings and they are still two games under .500 (10-12-4), there is the feeling that the tide has started to turn.

"I think we're turning the corner," said Stars forward Toby Petersen, who scored Dallas' lone goal in regulation. "It's coming with a lot of hard work and a little bit of team defense is the key here."

Friday's game marked the second time in the last three games that the Stars have limited their opponent to just one goal.

"It was one of our better overall team efforts," said Stars goalie Marty Turco, who stopped 26 of 27 shots in regulation and overtime and three of four in the shootout. "It's typical of how we need to play to be successful regardless of who is in the lineup."

After a scoreless first period the Stars got on the board 7:57 into the second when Modano picked off a pass along the boards in the Colorado zone, put the puck on net and Petersen tipped it past Colorado goalie Peter Budaj for his third goal in the last four games.

"Just trying to get to the net to get a tip, screen or rebound and it worked out in our favor," said Petersen, who started the game centering a line but was moved to the wing on a line with Modano.

Turco and the Stars held the fort until late in the third period when the Avalanche pulled Budaj and Marek Svatos, who had several scoring chances in the game, finally got one past Turco, scoring on a scramble in front of the net with 56 remaining in the game to tie it at 1-1 and force overtime.

After the scoreless overtime it went to the shootout. Wojtek Wolski scored on Colorado's first shot and after both Brad Richards and Fabian Brunnstrom were stopped by Budaj, Ribeiro had to score to keep the Stars alive. He delivered, beating Budaj with a wrist shot. Turco stopped Milan Hejduk and then Modano roofed a shot to give the Stars a 2-1 lead in the shootout. Turco denied Ryan Smyth's backhand bid and the Stars had the extra point.

The shootout win was the first in three tries for the Stars and the first shootout loss in five tries for the Avalanche this season. Colorado lost its second straight game and fell to 11-12-1 on the season.

"It was a big game, I think overall we played well, we played well defensively," said Svatos.

But the extra point went to the Stars, who have started to get on a little bit of a roll here recently.

"When you win a few games, you start to feel good about yourself," said Tippett. Tippett. "When you compete hard and find ways to win, your group comes together. Hopefully our confidence continues to grow."

Notes: The NHL suspended Stars forward Sean Avery six games Friday for inappropriate comments made Tuesday in Calgary. The suspension is retroactive to Tuesday's game, so he has four games remaining on the suspension. ... The Stars recalled center Tom Wandell from Sweden on Friday. ... The Stars will not practice Saturday. They will practice Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Euless. The practice is open to the public. ...